Thoughts on Christian Liberty [Tom Ascol]

Tom Ascol, over at Founders, writes:

With the resurgence of reformed theology has come a rediscovery of the doctrine of Christian liberty. This doctrine is important for spiritual growth and health because, as Paul succinctly put it in Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”…

Quite simply, Christian liberty is the freedom to live in ways that God that has not restricted by His commandments. As the Second London Confession of Faith (1689) puts it in chapter 21,

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from human doctrines and commandments that are in any way contrary to His Word or not contained in it. So, believing such doctrines, or obeying such commands out of conscience, is a betrayal of true liberty of conscience. Requiring implicit faith or absolute and blind obedience destroys liberty of conscience and reason as well (paragraph 2).

What God has commanded we must insist be done and do ourselves. What God has forbidden, we must insist not be done and not do. What God has neither commanded nor forbidden we are free to do or not do. Obviously, misunderstanding God’s law will inevitably lead to misunderstanding of Christian liberty.